Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art)

This is the first of a two-volume catalogue of the ceramic holdings in the Khalili Collection - nearly 2,000 objects that represent over a millennium of production from all over the Muslim world. It concentrates on the beauty of the work of the early Muslim potters through a selection of 406 items. The Collection contains many remarkable objects, including masterpieces with few, if any, parallels. Amongst these is a 9th-century relief-decorated dish, one of only a dozen in existence and arguably the most beautiful; an underglaze painted openwork ewer from Iran - a technical tour-de-force with only one known counterpart; and a signed bottle which is the earliest known dated ceramic from Iran. The various wares produced from the 7th to the 13th centuries are discussed at length in art historical and technical essays which incorporate the latest archaeological evidence. The items are illustrated in colour, with profile and detail drawings; the decipherable inscriptions are reproduced with translations; and a full scholarly apparatus provides references to comparative items and to further reading.